In the middle of the night there arose such a cat-fight clatter, I sprang to the basement to see what was the matter. By the time I got there the fight was over, and I could only find Benchley. Another animal—I assumed at the time it was our other cat Mouse—ran out from under Elizabeth’s bed as I tried to lure Benchley out. When Benchley DID come out, he was limping, and he hid under the downstairs loveseat. He’s never hidden like that in the whole month we’ve had him. And the loudness and wildness of the cat fight was surprising, since in the month he’s been here the most he and Mouse have exchanged was some hissing and a paw-to-head whap. And when I went upstairs five or ten minutes later, Mouse was in her usual spot under the computer, with the alert look cats get when they hear other cats fighting.
In short, WTH happened here? One possibility is that a neighborhood cat came in through our cat door, fought with Benchley, and then took off. Another possibility is that Mouse finally did fight with him, and that he was injured either by her (she was a fierce fighter in her street-cat youth, though it’s been a good 14 years since then and she’s more into the wrist-slapping at this point) or by something that happened as they were fighting—like if he fell or whacked into something, or if something fell on him. Another possibility is that he was injured outside, then came in and had a fight with Mouse, or….?
Well, it’s too bad he can’t talk, is what I’m saying, because now he’s at the vet’s office and he was too feisty to allow his leg to be checked while I was there so he had to stay and they have to sedate him, and so here we are at over $100 before the exam has even started ($60 illness/injury visit, $25 staying-there fee, $20 sedative). But the good news is that it looks like he’s probably just fine, and in fact the likely situation is that he’s being a total MAN about his injury and he just has a little boo-boo but didn’t want to walk on it. But after my experience with my cat Oliver (I thought he was being a big baby about a small boo-boo and it turned out his leg was completely crushed), I’m hesitant to try to figure things out myself.
The vet thinks it’s most likely an animal bite, in which case Benchley gets a rabies booster, a shot of antibiotics, and a prescription for painkillers. But once he’s sedated she might find that he needs an x-ray, and there could be a fracture, and then let’s not think about how much that will cost. Let’s instead reflect on what a sweet cat Benchley is (at least when no one is trying to inspect his owies), and how many years he has left to work this off in white-nose-spot kisses.
CAT EXXTREEEME!!!
(Close-up courtesy of whichever child was playing with my camera.)
Update! Even after two kinds of sedative, the cat was still feisty—too feisty for them to shave his little leggy so they could have a look at the owie. They gave him a rabies shot and a shot of antibiotic, and they gave us a supply of painkillers to give him for a few days, and if he’s not much better in 24 hours we’re to bring him back. But the vet thinks he’s probably fine: just being all MAN about his little owie. Cost for Mr. Baby to get some fuss made over him: $200.
I’m a little freaked out by the possibility of some strange fighting animal in your house! But I hope Benchley is OK.
If our cats could talk, our sex life would have to change. That’s all I’m saying.
And I hope the poor little dude is ok! Seems like the neighborhood cat scenario sounds likely… or Mouse is really good at her “WHOAH, cats are fighting? I’ll just sit her looking worried” face.
Here’s hoping he’s ok! And I really hope that there wasn’t another strange animal in your house!
Ok sorry, I should have said “a strange animal.” Because while I think that you may already have strange animals in the house (I know I do) I would hate to presume.
Now I am really really glad that our dog door has a sliding hard plastic panel that we lock into place at night before we go to bed. I have visions of skunks in our house but fights never even occurred to me.
EEEEEEE other cats in the house!? how… not entirely pleasant! poor little benchley-man. i hope he’s just being VERY MANLY about everything and is quite fine overall. good thing he’s so cute, goodness.
Poor guy! I hope he’s just fine AND the bill is not heart attack inducing.
Count me in with the “Hope-he’s-okay”-ers and the “Hope-the-bill-isn’t-too-high”-ers too!
I’m impressed that he was defending his hearth and home from the Strange Animal Invader. Hope he gets better soon!
That sounds like a pretty major fight. :( Hopefully there’s no fracture.
I like the camera close-up. I’m kind of looking forward to the time the kids start taking pictures of their own.
Hope he’s okay and the vet bill isn’t too extreme. I love his name by the way.
Aww no! I hope he’s okay and that he and Mouse aren’t too scarred by the experience. I hate the idea of anyone entering/violating my sanctuary, I’d be seriously mad if I thought even a cat had been coming in without my permission.
Oh no! I hope he’s okay, that it ends up only being about a $100 or so vet bill, and his mystery ouchie will be healed very quickly!
A few years ago I was home alone (well, me and the dog), and I had the window open in the master bedroom because it was a nice day. Since our condo is on the ground floor, I don’t like to have either bedroom window open unless I am at that end of the house so I was sitting at the computer desk in the 2nd bedroom and the dog was sleeping in his usual spot out in the living room. He was probably a year old at the time, so not officially a puppy but still very much acting like one. Anyway, I’m sitting at the computer and I notice movement in my peripheral vision. It took a second to realize that it wasn’t the dog coming out of my bedroom and heading toward the living room because *duh* the dog is already in the living room. And he is not grey. And he’s not that small. A small cat (older kitten maybe?) had squeezed in the window that was only open a little bit, climbed onto the book shelf and was coming in to explore. Of course as soon as I stood up and stepped toward the hallway the cat turned around & ran back out the way he/she came in. It was very creepy, and I was very glad that the dog and cat never did meet because nothing good would have come from it. It was definitely a close call! And the funny thing is now that I only open the bedroom window if I am in the bedroom, whenever I have any window open the dog decides he has to be in that room. Even the bathroom. Weirdo!
And to make it even better (worse?) while I was leaving that last comment UPS knocked at the door, and as I went to the door I realized the dog was bleeding all over the front hall. He cut his paw, so he was immediately taken to the bathroom where he could be confined in a small space while we cleaned it, bandaged his foot & put an e-collar on him. Thank goodness for leftover sedatives from his eye surgery!
What a sweet face! Well worth $100 for ensuring another 8 lives!
Oh no! I’m off to look for an update now.
So glad he is okay – but yikes! Vet bills are awful, especially when that’s the vet bill for just being a MAN and not a SERIOUS injury.
The last two years Rebound has needed a tooth extracted and I think his dental work is more expensive than all the humans in our house put together.
That is one feisty, MANLY cat you’ve got. Hope he’s all better soon!
Poor Kitty! I am so glad your kids play with your camera and got that photo. Adorable!
Cat fights are the nastiest sounding thing – EVER. Scares the sh*t out of me.
Hey! I just bought two pair of glasses from Zenni! Mine have a weird film on the frame and I need a new pair to tie me over. I will let you know what I think! (My selections were not nearly as cute as yours.)
Poor kitty. Hope he feels better soon.
And I LOVE the kid’s photo of him. Very cute!
That’s a great kitty close-up! I’m glad he’s okay, although expensively so. I’m super curious to know who Benchley was fighting with — rogue neighborhood cat? errant raccoon? Eeek!
Aw, I’m sorry! I hope the kitty feels better soon!
We went to the vet today today – for the vet’s groomer to learn how to work with our dog (and dogs in general) so there’s less chance of her biting the groomer. After seeing what the groomer does (nothing really BAD…but nothing to really make the grooming experience any less stressful for a scared dog, either), I might consider biting her too.
Good kitty. **Kiss, kiss.**
I wonder if he thought he was getting sent “away” again and kicked up such a fuss because he wanted to go back home?
My giant orange cat, Ozzie, got some kind of fever thing last year, and the vet wanted to keep him because he needed an xray (since he was also limping) and so they could give him more antibiotic shots the next day. They called me a couple minutes after their normal closing time and asked how soon I could get there to pick him up. They said he was carrying on so much, he was scaring the other animals and the staff, and they didn’t want to leave him there unattended all night.
He came home, bit the sh*t out of me, and took a four hour nap. Point taken, Ozzie. Point taken.
When I got my second kitty, they whap bapped, hissed and moaned until one day, they just had it OUT in much the manner you described. Then everything was fine. It was like the older cat had to set the boundaries. And once that was over? No more violent fights. Just the nightly chasing play ones.